| 1. | something considered by an authority or by general consent as a basis of comparison; an approved model. |
| 2. | an object that is regarded as the usual or most common size or form of its kind: We stock the deluxe models as well as the standards. |
| 3. | a rule or principle that is used as a basis for judgment: They tried to establish standards for a new philosophical approach. |
| 4. | an average or normal requirement, quality, quantity, level, grade, etc.: His work this week hasn't been up to his usual standard. |
| 5. | standards, those morals, ethics, habits, etc., established by authority, custom, or an individual as acceptable: He tried to live up to his father's standards. |
| 6. | a grade of beef immediately below good. |
| 7. | the authorized exemplar of a unit of weight or measure. |
| 8. | a certain commodity in or by which a basic monetary unit is stated. Compare gold standard, silver standard, bimetallism, monometallism. |
| 9. | the legally established content of full-weight coins. |
| 10. | the prescribed degree of fineness for gold or silver. |
| 11. | British. a class or grade in elementary schools. |
| 12. | a musical piece of sufficiently enduring popularity to be made part of a permanent repertoire, esp. a popular song. |
| 13. | a flag indicating the presence of a sovereign or public official. |
| 14. | a flag, emblematic figure, or other object raised on a pole to indicate the rallying point of an army, fleet, etc. |
| 15. | Military.
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| 16. | Heraldry. a long, tapering flag or ensign, as of a monarch or a nation. |
| 17. | something that stands or is placed upright. |
| 18. | a long candlestick or candelabrum used in a church. |
| 19. | an upright support or supporting part. |
| 20. | Armor. a standing collar of mail. |
| 21. | Horticulture. a plant trained or grafted to have a single, erect, treelike stem. |
| 22. | Botany. a distinct petal, larger than the rest, of certain flowers; a vexillum. |
| 23. | serving as a basis of weight, measure, value, comparison, or judgment. |
| 24. | of recognized excellence or established authority: a standard reference on medieval history. |
| 25. | usual, common, or customary: Chairs are standard furniture in American households. |
| 26. | manual; not electric or automatic: standard transmission. |
| 27. | conforming in pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, etc., to the usage of most educated native speakers, esp. those having prestige, and widely considered acceptable or correct: Standard American English; standard pronunciation. Compare nonstandard (def. 2). |
| 28. | authorized or approved: The program was broadcast on the standard broadcast band. |

stan·dard (stān'dərd) n.
[Middle English, from Old French estandard, rallying place, probably from Frankish *standhard : *standan, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots + *hard, fast, hard; see kar- in Indo-European roots.] stan'dard·ly adv. Synonyms: These nouns denote a point of reference against which individuals are compared and evaluated: a book that is a standard of literary excellence; a painting that is a benchmark of quality; criteria for hiring an excellent teacher; behavior that is a gauge of self-control; donations from the public, a measure of the importance of the arts; the program's success, a touchstone of cooperation in the community; farm failures, a yardstick of federal banking policy. See Also Synonyms at ideal. |
standard stan·dard (stān'dərd)
n.
An acknowledged measure of comparison for quantitative or qualitative value; a criterion.
An object that under specified conditions defines, represents, or records the magnitude of a unit.
Serving as or conforming to a standard of measurement or value.
Widely recognized as a model of authority or excellence.
standard standard
Standards are necessary for interworking, portability, and reusability. They may be de facto standards for various communities, or officially recognised national or international standards.
Andrew Tanenbaum, in his Computer Networks book, once said, "The nice thing about standards is that there are so many of them to choose from", a reference to the fact that competing standards become a source of confusion, division, obsolescence, and duplication of effort instead of an enhancement to the usefulness of products.
Some bodies concerned in one way or another with computing standards are IAB (RFC and STD), ISO, ANSI, DoD, ECMA, IEEE, IETF, OSF, W3C.
(1999-07-06)